Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Beauty Awakened (Angels of the Dark, #2) by Gena Showalter

His name is Koldo. He
is scarred, powerful, his control legendary-and he lives only for
vengeance, determined to punish the angel who viciously removed his
wings.

But if he yields to the forces of hatred, he will be kicked from
the heavens, eternally damned.

She is his last hope.

Nicola
Lane was born with a defective heart, yet this fragile human shows
surprising strength as demons stalk her every move, determined to end
her.

She is the key to Koldo's deliverance...and his downfall. Though he
fights duty, destiny and his first addictive taste of desire, his
toughest battle will be the one for Nicola's life-even if he has to
sacrifice his own....

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Dark

Creatures: Angels & Demons

Age: adult

Source: owned ebook

Read on February 28, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

“Even the smallest light can grow until there’s no darkness left.”

※ update: I did some editing of the review on 17/10/14.

This series is captivating. It will bind you and won't let you go until you read them all.
More world-building, plot twists, actions and sexual tension + another
virgin hero. For me it was absolutely better than the first one. It made
me laugh a lot, but as well cry because of certain character's decision
in the end. Still, the story about Nicola and Koldo was beautiful, sweet and lovely. And the cover is true to the characters, except....where is his beard xD?

Story is about
two twin sisters, Nicola and Laila, and a wingless warrior angel Koldo.
One day, while on mission, Koldo notices Nicola in hospital, beside her
dying sister. He notices the demons who poison both of them, feeding of
their fear of dying. Nicola and Laila don't have long to live. They
both have really weak hearts, and Laila is already hospitalized and near
death. Nicola can suffer a heart attack anytime and that despair and
pain are exactly what feeds demons. Koldo decides to help them both -
and he slowly falls in love with Nicola. There is a lot more to story
than just that, it was full of action, there was a side story,
interesting plot twists and many fight scenes.

Gena also shows how positive thinking affects the outcome of some actions.
Being positive and thinking positively crushes the negative emotions
and it helps. It helped me a lot of times, and thus i believe in the
message she wanted to give to her readers.

CHARACTERS:

♦ Koldo:

We meet Koldo in the first book. He is wingless warrior from the
Zachariel's Army of Disgrace. His wings were cut off by his own sadistic
mother when he was young, and he never could regenerate them since.
(this was told in the prologue so it's not a spoiler). She blamed him
for being born, especially because he was half Nefas.

Nefas are "vile
race in existence. A race that sneaked up on humans, poisoned slowly,
painfully...destroying utterly. A race without a conscience. A race just
like the demons. The Nefas were death dealers. Soul suckers. The age of
their victims never mattered. The gender of their victims never
mattered. They lived to inflict pain. They killed. And they laughed
while doing it."

So Cornelia, his mother, blamed him for
everything and used every chance she could to hurt him. And in the end,
she cut off his wings and sent him to his father's people, who had done
even worse to him. He spent a decade in there, forced to do so many
things that he regretted. He was feral, dangerous and without any hope,
until he was rescued by Sent ones. And in the end, he became what his
parents created him to be: emotionless but lethal. And rabid. After an
incident he was sent to be in Army of Disgrace.

In the previous
book he sacrificed his precious hair, making him look like his father's
people - whom he hated with passion. But doing so, he created friend of
Zacharel and respect as well.

He appears to be quite
emotionless, but he isn't. He just hides it well because he is afraid of
being rejected. He doesn't want to be hurt emotionally so he just
avoids contact with other people. But then he meets Nicola, and finds
himself fascinated with her. He helped her battle her own demons
*literally* and in return he only requested for her to be happy.

♦ Nicola:

Nicola was truly awesome: strong and adorable heroine. Even though she
had weakened heart, she cares a lot for her only sister, especially
after their parents and brother died in car accident. She is devastated
because she is loosing the only person left she loved. And then she
meets mysterious Koldo, who read her like an open book. She is crazy,
she is awesome and she is wonderful and complex character.

♦ Koldo & Nicola's relationship:

They were absolutely cute. Their relationship was truly unique. A lot of
time passes before they do something. So...there was a lot of sexual
tension here and there... They took it slowly, never rushed into
anything, because she sometimes fainted and he never wanted to hurt her.
They must be the first couple ever to have had sex after they had [married]. Which was quite unique in this genre, and that was sweet. But he would do anything, and i meant anything for her.

Spoilers for those who have read it * some are really serious *:[ I cried so much because of what Koldo sacrificed for Nicola. He finally regained his wings, only to be cut off again so he could save her sister. Only to find it was all in vain. ]

♦ Laila:

Laila was really sweet. She is Nicola's twin sister and she was in comma
for a while and in danger of dying. She has weak heart, making her
vulnerable, and dying. She was always there for Nicola, her only
support. She was crazy as well, and just lovely. Innocent.

♦ Axel:

Axel was beyond crazy. He is hilariously crazy Angel who is having more
fun than anything. He is like a contradictory Koldo. His comments are
beyond awesome, and he made me laugh so many times. He is weird and i
really wonder what's his story - so i really hope he will get his book.
His actions certainly surprised me, and he just grew more to my heart.

“Fair enough, since I wasn’t really interested. But I gotta say, I am so proud right now.” Axel flattened his hand over his heart. “You borrowed my patented move, proving I’m made of more than awesome. I’m awesalicious. Is that a word? It’s probably a girl word, but who cares! Seriously. Do you see a tear in my eye? Because I’m pretty sure I feel one.”Koldo didn’t understand the man’s humor, and yet, he realized he was coming to like Axel despite that. He was strong, courageous and never backed down from a fight. He never allowed Koldo’s moods to affect his own, and he was happy to do anything Koldo asked. Or demanded.What was the male’s history?“You’re very weird,” Koldo observed.“Nah. I’m mysterious. There’s a big difference.”“You’re definitely weird.”

P.S. This is my favorite scene with Axel and Koldo ever *spoiler alert*

“Just sit back and enjoy the show, bro,” Axel said, and Koldo heard the amusement in his tone. “I have a feeling you’re going to like this one. Your day is about to be saved, and by the most unlikely person.”“Who? How?”“No way I’ll ruin the surprise.”Koldo couldn’t help himself. He pulled himself into a sitting position and draped his arm around Axel. “Thank you.”“Not afraid of a man hug, I see,” the warrior said, clearly uncomfortable.Koldo gripped him tighter.“Really? This is happening?”“I love you, male.”Axel cleared his throat and wrapped an arm around him, too. “I love you, too. But I’m going to pretend that’s the pain talking—for both of us. And if you ever tell anyone you heard any kind of trembling in my voice, I’ll kill you.”

♦ Everyone else:

Thane, Xerxes & Bjorn are interesting characters.
Their bond is truly strong. I just can't wait to read their books. Their
story in this book ended with serious cliffhanger and i will go mad or
crazy until the next book.

Cornelia is a truly despicable. I hated her and will hate her always.

Nox (Koldo's father) is totally sadistic and heartless character, and also one of those worthy of hating with passion.

Jamilla
was awesome! She did appear before, but not so much as she did here :D I
found her great, and i wish she could get a book of her own!

Sirena
i liked a lot for the first half of the book. In the second part of the
book, i just started and couldn't believe what was happening. *SERIOUS SPOILER* [ she is in fact a half fae and
half Nefas, also half sister of Koldo. She wanted to rape Koldo, which
is very disturbing, and wanted to carry his child. OH MY GOD.]

OVERALL:

I loved this book. I would recommend this series to everyone,
whether you have read LOU or not. Series can be read as a separate
series, but i have a feeling that as more books are written, the more
crossovers it will have with LOU. Anyway, cool series ♥